Fix the Wait Limit in iPhone Shortcuts With This Simple Trick

The "Wait" enactment successful Apple's Shortcuts app is simply a utile mode to marque the shortcut intermission for a circumstantial magnitude of time. You tin acceptable the enactment to hold for 30 seconds, for example, earlier the adjacent enactment takes place. You mightiness privation to usage this to fto an app unfastened oregon a leafage load earlier the adjacent enactment happens.

If you acceptable durations of longer than a fewer minutes, however, things statesman to spell wrong. There's a workaround you tin usage that volition fto you acceptable hold times of respective minutes oregon adjacent hours.

The Problem With the Wait Action

The Wait enactment works good for abbreviated durations. You tin lone acceptable the duration successful seconds, which is simply a hint that Apple didn't mean this to beryllium utilized for minutes oregon hours astatine a time.

The occupation is that Apple doesn't fto apps tally successful the inheritance for much than a fewer minutes. Once the Shortcuts app stops moving successful the background, the Wait relation stops counting, and your perfectly formed shortcut breaks down. If your Wait duration is nary much than a fewer minutes, past it should inactive work, but for longer durations, you're not going to get the behaviour you expect.

Sometimes You Need a Longer Wait

The occupation is, sometimes you request your shortcut to hold for longer than a fewer minutes. I was trying to physique a elemental Pomodoro timer shortcut that would play euphony connected my HomePod for 25 minutes and past denote that it was clip for a interruption erstwhile the 25 minutes were up. I wanted to see the announcement due to the fact that otherwise, I thin not to announcement erstwhile the euphony stops.

It seemed similar it would beryllium elemental to make. Get Apple Music to commencement playing, hold for 25 minutes, past halt the euphony and denote that it is clip to instrumentality a break. However, utilizing the Wait enactment with a duration of 1500 seconds didn't enactment due to the fact that the Wait relation would halt moving aft a fewer minutes.

With a spot of research, however, I discovered a instrumentality that radical person been utilizing to adhd agelong waits to their shortcuts. I tried it out, and it did precisely what I wanted.

Adding Long Waits to Shortcuts With a Custom Focus

This instrumentality uses the information that the Set Focus enactment allows you to crook connected a Focus mode and past person it crook disconnected astatine a circumstantial time. For example, you tin get the existent time, adhd 25 minutes to it, and archer the Focus mode to crook disconnected astatine that time. Your chosen Focus volition past beryllium progressive for 25 minutes earlier turning off.

This unsocial isn't capable to get a shortcut to hold for 25 minutes. However, you tin trigger shortcuts to tally whenever a Focus mode turns connected oregon off. All you request to bash past is divided your shortcut into 2 abstracted shortcuts.

Everything you privation to hap earlier the agelong hold goes into the archetypal shortcut, which should extremity by turning connected a Focus mode for 25 minutes. Your 2nd shortcut should see each the actions you privation to hap aft the agelong wait; you tin acceptable this 2nd shortcut to automatically tally erstwhile the Focus mode turns disconnected aft 25 minutes.

How to Create a Custom Focus Mode

The 2nd shortcut volition tally immoderate clip the Focus you prime turns off, truthful you don't privation to usage a Focus mode that you mightiness usage successful your day-to-day activities. The champion enactment is to make a customized Focus mode that you lone usage for pausing your shortcuts. You tin lone person up to 10 customized Focus modes, truthful if you already person that many, you won't beryllium capable to make a caller 1 without deleting 1 of the existent options.

Go to Settings > Focus and pat the "+" positive fastener successful the apical close country of the screen. Select "Custom" and springiness your Focus a name. I called excavation "Timer." Choose a colour and icon if you privation and pat "Next." Tap "Customize Focus" and permission the settings arsenic they are unless you person immoderate peculiar tendency to alteration them to lucifer the Focus you usually use. Your caller Focus should present beryllium disposable to prime successful your shortcuts.

How to Make Your First Music Pomodoro Timer Shortcut

This is however it works with my Pomodoro timer. My archetypal shortcut starts playing euphony connected my HomePod, past gets the existent clip and adds 25 minutes to it. It past turns connected a customized Focus mode called Timer and asks it to crook disconnected astatine immoderate the clip volition beryllium successful 25 minutes.

To marque it, unfastened the Shortcuts app and pat the "+" positive icon. Tap "Search Actions," benignant "Destination," and prime "Change Playback Destination." Tap "iPhone," and prime your HomePod. Tap "Search Actions" again, benignant Music and prime "Play Music." You tin take an medium oregon playlist to play if you want, but I chose to permission it blank truthful that it would proceed to play immoderate euphony I was listening to last.

Tap "Search Actions" again, benignant "Date" and prime "Date." This should adhd a "Current Date" enactment to your shortcut. Search for "Date" again and prime "Adjust Date." Tap "seconds" and prime "minutes." Tap "0" and benignant "25" oregon nevertheless agelong you privation for your shortcut. This volition make what the clip volition beryllium 25 minutes from now.

Search for and prime the "Set Focus" action. Tap "Do Not Disturb" and prime the customized Focus that you created. Tap "Off" and prime "On." Tap "Turned Off" and prime "Time." Tap "7 pm" and prime "Adjusted Date" from the variables supra the keyboard.

This volition crook connected your customized absorption and crook it disconnected again 25 minutes later.

Tap the sanction of your shortcut, prime "Rename," and springiness it a name. Tap "Done" to prevention it.

The finished shortcut should look thing similar this:

How to Make Your Second Pomodoro Timer Shortcut

The adjacent measurement is to make a shortcut that volition tally erstwhile the Timer Focus turns off. This volition halt the euphony and denote that it's clip to instrumentality a break.

Open Shortcuts and pat "+" plus. Search for "Play Pause" and prime the "Play/Pause" action. Tap "iPhone" and prime your HomePod.

Search for "Intercom" and prime the "Intercom" action. Tap the placeholder "Dinner is Ready!" substance and participate the announcement you privation your HomePod to make, specified arsenic "Time to instrumentality a break!" Tap "My Home" and prime the country wherever your HomePod is located. Give your shortcut a sanction and pat "Done" to prevention it.

Your 2nd shortcut should look thing similar this:

Getting Your Second Shortcut to Run When The Timer Focus Turns Off

The last measurement is to get your 2nd shortcut to tally erstwhile the Timer Focus turns off. Tap the "Automation" tab and property the "+" positive icon successful the apical close corner. Scroll down and prime "Timer" from the database of Focus triggers. Select "When Turning Off" and cheque "Run Immediately." Tap "Next" and prime your 2nd shortcut.

Now, erstwhile you tally your archetypal shortcut, your euphony volition commencement playing, and the Timer Focus volition crook on. After 25 minutes, the Timer Focus volition crook off, your euphony volition pause, and your HomePod volition archer you to instrumentality a break. It works similar a charm.

Other Ways to Use Long Waits successful Shortcuts

This is simply a precise elemental Pomodoro timer that runs a azygous time. If you want, you tin marque it amended by repeating the instrumentality with a antithetic customized Focus to springiness a five-minute break, aft which the archetypal shortcut volition tally again. This volition support up the signifier of 25 minutes of euphony followed by a five-minute break, though you'll request to physique successful a mode to get the loop to stop, oregon it volition transportation connected forever.

There are plentifulness of different ways you tin usage this timer trick, however. For example, you could make a wake-up shortcut that plays euphony astatine a debased measurement and past increases the measurement each 5 minutes. You could usage a shortcut that would punctual you each 45 minutes to person a portion of water. It would besides beryllium a bully mode to punctual yourself to stop doomscrolling 30 minutes aft you unfastened societal media.

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There are plentifulness of uses for the Wait enactment successful iOS Shortcuts, but if you request waits of longer than a fewer minutes, it's improbable to enactment however you want. Using this instrumentality allows you to marque shortcuts that enactment with waits of respective minutes oregon adjacent hours.

However, you should beryllium alert that erstwhile you're utilizing this method, you won't beryllium capable to usage different Focus modes portion the clip is ticking down. If you crook connected a antithetic Focus, the Timer Focus volition crook off, and your 2nd shortcut volition instantly run.